Strength of the Soul
by Ricku28
Summary: When Izuku Midoriya awakens a power thought lost to time in his time of need, events begin spiraling towards a new conclusion, as a power once lost from this world returns and old forces awaken.


**A/N: Yo! How are you all doing? This has been a plot bunny that won't leave me alone, so I'm gonna pursue it. Hopefully you enjoy.**

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Ch 1: A Chance Encounter

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This world is a world where the superhuman happens daily, 80% of the population have mutated special powers known as Quirks. It all began long ago in Qingqing City, China when a newborn infant began glowing; soon after that, reports of children exhibiting other strange abilities began to spread all over the planet. Although the world was briefly thrown into chaos by the emergence of Quirks, that chaos would find itself opposed by a profession most would only dream of before Quirks: Superheroes emerged. As the world slowly became more and more used to Superheroes, Quirks became more common. However, in the age of the Quirk, men were _not_ created equal.

This is the sad truth Izuku Midoriya learned at the age of four when his Quirk failed to manifest.

* * *

"I'm sorry kid, but you're Quirkless." A doctor told the young Izuku Midoriya.

Izuku seemed frozen to the chair he sat on, even his curly green hair seemed to have drained of its natural color.

"A-are you sure?" Inko Midoriya, Izuku's mother, asked.

"We conducted two different tests," The doctor said as he pointed to an X-Ray of a foot. "This is Izuku's foot, and as you can see, he has an unnecessary joint in his pinky toe." The doctor sighed sadly. "Normally, we would stop testing there, but considering the circumstances..." The doctor sat down. "We conducted a blood test to see if we could isolate any signs of a Quirk Factor, and the test came up negative."

While Izuku Midoriya didn't understand most of the technical jargon, he understood the doctor's message very clearly: He was Quirkless, and therefore couldn't become a Superhero like his idol All Might. The young boy was in a near catatonic state during the ride back to his home, and only stirred when his mother put on his favorite video: All Might pulling people out of a blaze with a smile on his face, bringing a feeling of safety wherever he went.

"Momma..." The distraught child asked as he turned towards Inko, tears overflowing from his eyes as he tried to smile like his idol did. "Can I be a hero too?"

The woman couldn't bear to see her child in so much pain, and immediately ran to the swivel chair Izuku sat in and cried "I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry..." Into his shoulder over and over again.

It was then that the reality that he was Quirkless fully hit Izuku Midoriya; and yet... this was his first, and only, setback on his path to becoming a hero.

* * *

It was dark, unnaturally dark, as the only illumination was that of the full moon. Seven teenagers, a boy and a dog were locked in combat with a tall menacing figure. It's cloak and wings blacker than the deepest darkness, it's face a white mask twisted into a sick facsimile of a smile, and it's tousled black hair topped with a strange crown. The teenagers and the boy seemed to be shooting themselves in the head, before large beings appeared behind them, using all kinds of abilities.

The tall being seemed to slump for a moment, before standing upright. "The moment man devoured the fruit of knowledge, he sealed his fate..." The voice of the being seemed like that of a boy, mixed with something darker. "Entrusting his future to the cards, man clings to a dim hope. Yes, the arcana is the means by which all is revealed..." Something seemed to change about it. "Attaining one's dream requires a stern will and unfailing determination." The being's attack patterns seemed to shift as the scene faded to darkness.

Izuku Midoriya woke up.

* * *

"Since you're all third years, it's time for you to start thinking seriously about your future." Izuku kept his head down near his desk, recording more of his observations on the villain battle he witnessed as he walked to school that morning, only half paying attention to his teacher. "I'll begin passing out handouts for your future plans now, but..." At the teacher's next words, his voice went from gruff and stern to carefree in an instant. "You're all planning to go into a hero course, right?"

28 members of the class immediately answered in the affirmative, all of them using there quirks in some way or another.

"Right, right... you all have wonderful quirks!" The teacher exclaimed joyfully. "But remember, using them at school is against school policy."

The twenty ninth member of the class spoke up. "Come on Sensei, don't lump me in with these losers." The blonde hared boy raised his head, revealing his red eyes.

This was Katsuki Bakugou, and his quirk was 'Explosion' which caused him to sweat nitroglycerin-like sweat from the pores on the palms of his hands and ignite it at will.

Several other students immediately began voicing their indignation at his words, but the boy simply laughed and said "You should all shut up like the extras you are!"

"Bakugou huh..." The teacher looked at something on his clipboard. "If I'm remembering right, you wanted to go to U.A..."

Immediately the tone of the class changed from indignation at Bakugou's comment to awe and respect for the High School he was applying for. Comments about how cool the school was and it's extremely low acceptance rate were heard throughout the class.

"See, this is why I said you're all extras." Bakugou jumped on top of his desk and pointed to himself proudly. " _I_ aced the mock exams, _I'm_ the only person in this crumby school who could possibly get accepted there." as the blonde haired boy bragged, the thirtieth member of the class lowered his head and began praying to any god that would listen for his teacher not to mention the fact he was applying to said school as well.

Unfortunately for Izuku Midoriya, the only two remaining gods of this world swore oaths of non-intervention over a century ago.

"Oh yeah, wasn't Midoriya going to apply to U.A. as well?" The class quieted as these words were spoken, a spell of silence descended for a short time, then, it was broken by the laughter of twenty eight Junior High students.

Among the laughter and disbelief, one student spoke up. "You can't get into the Hero Course just by studying."

"T-they changed that rule..." Izuku spoke up. "T-there's just no precedent..."

Above the sound of the class' laughter, a demonic voice growled, " ** _Deku..._** " Bakugou slammed his palm on the green haired boys desk, almost breaking it with an explosion, causing Izuku to fall from his chair onto the ground. "You're below even these losers, how dare you think you can stand in the same ring as me..."

"K-k-Kacchan... I-I'm not t-trying to c-compete with you or anything!" Izuku desperately pleaded, "I-it's just, it's been my dream ever since I was little, and you know... I won't know until I try..."

"You 'won't know 'til you try?!' So you're taking the test for shits and giggles you bastard!?" Bakugou growled, his hands smoking from his quirk. "What the hell can _you_ do, you're fuckin' Quirkless!"

After that, class went back to normal and Izuku kept his head down, although he wished... he wished he could be brave like those teens he kept seeing in his dreams.

* * *

Izuku muttered to himself as he walked home, making sure his precious notebook wasn't damaged too badly from the combination of Bakugou's explosions and landing in a koi pond. "Jeez, what would you do if I had actually jumped..." He said to himself, wincing at the memory of the words his former best friend had said to him less than half an hour before. He shook his head, as if to shake those thoughts loose from it. "I can't get down about that. I _will_ be a hero." Izuku then began boisterously laughing in a manner similar to that of his idol.

He passed over a manhole cover under an overpass, not knowing the danger about to befall him.

Izuku heard a strange sound behind him, and stopped laughing. He turned to see a large green shape forming in front of him. Then it gained eyes and a mouth. "Ah, a mid-tier disguise."

Fear paralyzed Izuku, rooting him in place, as his instincts told him what was in front of him. "A-a Villain..." Then before the young teen could move the being made of sludge rushed towards and onto him. It attempted to insert itself into him through his mouth and nostrils, the taste was indescribably vile, and Izuku almost threw up there, but he knew if he opened his esophagus or larynx, the villain would enter into his body.

"Hey, don't worry... it'll hurt for less than a minute, then it'll be painless." The villain looked almost nightmarish with it's eyes above and below it's mouth. Izuku tried to break the flow of sludge with his hand, but when he clawed, more rushed to take it's place. "Sorry, you can't grab ahold of me, I'm fluid!" Izuku could tell he was running out of oxygen fast, so he quickly stopped struggling, hoping against hope that a hero would come and save him. "Decided to embrace your fate? I love it when they get submissive." The villain cackled.

Izuku's vision was beginning to fade when he saw the manhole cover get blown away, a man jumped out of it and almost caused Izuku to gasp.

" **It's all right now, kid. Why? Because _I_ am here!" **All Might spoke solemnly.

"Tch." The Sludge Villain swept one of his arms at the Number One hero, missing due to the incredible reflexes All Might possesed.

The hero jumped forward, but stopped abruptly when he saw the villain's other arm come at him. He reared back his fist and called out: " **Texas... SMASH!** " A wave of pressure shot out and slammed into the Sludge villain, scattering it into tiny droplets. Izuku fell now that nothing was keeping him in the air, finally allowing himself to slip unconscious. The last thing he saw before his eyes closed was All Might's signature smile.

* * *

The next thing Izuku knew, was blue. He stood surrounded by a blue mist. Deciding to try to find where he was, he began walking forward. It could have been eternities, or just a few minutes, before he found himself in what seemed to be a dome of clear air. In the center was a desk with a chair and a long nosed man in it.

Bloodshot, bulbous eyes opened, as the man took notice of Izuku. "Midoriya Izuku..." The man's voice, contrary to his appearance, was kindly and old. "Welcome to the Velvet Room."

"H-how do you know my name!?"

"I know the names of all my visitors." The man chuckled. "Though I will admit, I wasn't expecting you for at least another day."

"W-what do you mean?" Izuku asked.

"I will reveal all at a later time." The man said, "Right now, you have something to do." The man waved his hand, and Izuku's vision went dark.

* * *

Izuku opened his eyes when he felt someone lightly slapping his cheek and repeating the word "Hey." He was greeted with the sight of his idol, the number one hero All Might bending over him. "Oh thank goodness!" Izuku panicked and immediately crawled backwards as fast as he could. "I'm glad you're alright, sorry about getting you caught up in my fight with that villain by the way; I don't normally make mistakes like that, but I guess I was just in high spirits from having a day off in a new place!" All Might laughed. "But you were a great help, thanks to you I was able to capture him safely!" He held out two 2-Liter bottles of Torrent soda, filled with the sludge villain.

'He's... He's the real thing... The Number One Hero... All Might!' Izuku thought in his head. 'He looks so different in person!' Izuku swore he saw the sunlight gleam off of All Mights teeth like in an anime. "Wait, an autograph! Where can I..." Izuku panicked and looked around wildly, spotting his slightly crispy notebook. "Here!" He opened it, and noticed All Might's signature already in it's pages. 'He already signed it!' Izuku stood up and began bowing rapidly. "Thank you, thank you so so much! This will be an heirloom, passed down through my family!"

All Might good naturedly stood there smiling and simply responded with a thumbs-up and a small "Okay!" He then patted his pockets, where he put the bottles containing the villain. "Anyways, I need to take this guy to the police." He turned and waved at Izuku. "See you from the other side of the screen!"

'Huh? He's... leaving?" A million thoughts raced through Izuku's mind at that moment, "A-already? But..." But one stood out far more than the others. 'But I need to ask him _that_ question...'

"Pro's battle not only villains, but time itself sometimes." All Might said as he quickly stretched his legs in preparation for take off. "Well then," All Might took off, but the moment before, one action would change the course of history. Izuku lept and grabbed onto All Might's leg just in time. "I'm counting on your con... Wait." All Might looked down at Izuku, who's eyes were tearing up from the air pressure. "H-hey! Let go!" All Might shook his leg, trying to throw the teen off.

"I-if I d-do th-that I'll die!" Izuku exclaimed shakely, unsure if his idol could even hear him over the rushing wind.

"Oh, that's true." All Might said as he stopped shaking his leg. "Fine, hold on tight and close your eyes and mouth."

Izuku complied, though if his eyes had stayed open a few moments longer he would have seen All Might cough, and the tiny drop of blood that leaked from the corner of his mouth.

Less than a minute later, Izuku caught his breath after landing on a roof with his hero.

"Now, if you talk to the people downstairs, they should let you out. For now, I must go." All Might said as he walked away.

"Wait, I-"

"I will _not_ wait." All Might said seriously, interrupting Izuku.

Izuku reached his hand forward, almost getting the words out, but faltering as the words he's heard his whole life came back to him.

"Just give it up kid." The doctor, when he learned he was quirkless.

"Izuku, I'm so sorry..." His mother, later the same day.

"You're less than worthless, what can _you_ do?" Bakugou, a few hours ago.

"It's foolish for me to believe in this, but I need to ask." Izuku's words stopped All Might. "Even without a power, without a quirk... can I become a hero like you?!"

"Without a quirk?" All Might muttered to himself, a ghostly image of when he was younger briefly filling his vision. Then the pain, the constant pain he felt every second of every day worsened. He was out of time.

"I was made fun of a lot, probably for being born quirkless... but I guess that's why I think saving people is so amazing..." Izuku explained, unaware of the large cloud of smoke caused by All Might's transformation. "I want to save people with a fearless smile on my face, like you!" izuku said as he looked up to see the smoke clear away, leaving a hunched skeleton of a man.

Izuku then proceeded to do what any rational human being in that situation would do. He screamed.

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 **A/N: And that's it for now... actually, how about a little glimpse of the next chapter?**

* * *

Izuku saw the slime villain's hand falling towards him, almost in slow motion. Unseen behind him a blue butterfly flew past gently.

'I guess this is where it ends...' Izuku resigned himself to his fate and closed his eyes.

' _ **Really? You're just going to let it end here? I thought we were better than that.**_ ' A voice spoke in his head. ' _ **Don't you**_ **want _to save Kacchan?_** '

'Of course!' Izuku thought back, angrily, 'But I can't _do_ anything, I'm a quirkless, powerless, loser...'

' _ **You aren't as powerless as you believe, I know you know it deep down, the way to grasp our power, so go ahead.**_ '

Izuku almost replied he had no idea what the voice was talking about, when he realized he did know. He had heard it in his dreams. And Izuku quietly muttered, as the voice spoke alongside him.

" **I am thou...** thou art I..." Power radiated from Izuku, knocking the slime villain's hand back. "HELP ME SAVE THEM, SAMARITAN!"


End file.
